Storyteller
by archergwen
Summary: When eighteen-year old Zuko decides to tell his kid sister a bedtime story, he didn't think it would turn out to be real. Or that things were much more complicated than he could have imagined. The Goblin Queen won't give up without a fight, but neither will Zuko - or the third power lurking just out of reach. - A Labyrinth AU
1. Chapter 1

"I don't want to hear your stupid bedtime story."

"Well, little sisters who don't listen to their brothers just have to suck it up and do as he says. And you are going to get a bedtime story."

"I'm twelve, I'm too old for a bedtime story."

Zuko, newly eighteen and feeling the crushing weight of responsibilities, glared at his sister. "Again, it sucks to be you. Dad left me in charge, so get comfortable."

"Is this a kissing story?"

"No. Now listen.

"Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince. But all was not well in his kingdom, for his mother was missing-"

"Dead."

"What?"

"Mom's dead, Zuko, stop pretending she's not, even in a fairy tale that is so heavy handed about being your life. If this is gonna be a dumb 'beauty and the beast' adaption, I hope you're not trying to be the beauty."

"Just shut up and let me tell the story. As I was saying, the mother was missing, and the prince's father often left on long trips, trying to save the kingdom from certain destruction."

"You hate Dad; why is he sympathetic in this story?"

"Oh my god, Azula, shut up!"

She pulled a face in response. "Just asking questions. Not my fault you're a bad storyteller."

"All will be explained. And if it's not explained, it's not important to the story. So, the prince has no parents ninety percent of the time. What he did have was a baby sister, who cried and cried, and even with an army of nannies and assistants the prince was expected to care for her and the kingdom as if he was his father."

"Wow. Now I know how you feel about me."

"Maybe if you shut up and listened, you could be a hero in the story, too."

"Yeah, yeah, just get to the point."

"One night, as his sister cried and cried, and the kingdom continued to flounder, the prince reached his breaking point. You see, what no one in the kingdom knew was that the Queen of Goblins had fallen in love with the prince, and given him certain powers. And so, at the height of his desperation, the prince fell to the ground before his sister's room and cried: 'Goblin Queen! Goblin Queen! Where ever you may be, take this child away from me!'"

Azula burst into laughter. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard! What happens next? The Queen takes him as her king in trade for his sister? Come on, Zuko!"

"No," he murmured, heart sinking. "He saves his sister and spurns the Queen."

Azula didn't hear him, laughing as she was. Neither did she hear him mutter a goodnight and stand, leaving her room with the click of the door. She was still laughing when he turned in the hall to look back at her room.

He winced as another peal of laughter - high and cruel - sounded through the door.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away." He turned his back on her room. "Right now."

 _-silence-_

The world around him seemed to shift and that was what he was aware of first, the silence. He immediately ran back into Azula's room, heart in his throat. Her covers were thrown back, and she was gone.

Zuko fumbled for the light switch, only it seemed like a useless decoration on the wall for all the use it was. He stepped farther into her room, glancing about anxiously.

"Azula? Azula, come out. This isn't funny."

"No, it's not," came an unfamiliar voice, and Zuko pivoted towards the window, one hand throwing a wild punch easily caught by the stranger's hand.

She stared at him, blue eyes alight with mischief. Her skin, a warm reddish-brown not unlike the sepia-colored pictures his mother used to collect, seemed to glow with power as her brown hair fluttered about her face, almost alive. She was draped in blue, a richer blue than Zuko had ever seen. Her cape, black as night with serrated edges, billowed about her, almost as if it was reaching for him.

There was also a shower of glitter.

"Hello, Zuko. How are we this evening?"

"Give my sister back."

"Such defiance. And straight to the point, too. Well, well."

She began to circle him, having let drop his hand, and she resembled nothing but predator. "You wished her away. I cannot just give her back to you."

"I didn't mean it."

"What's said is said, Zuko."

"She's my sister, not my child, so she's not mine to give away."

The Goblin Queen - for that's all who she could be - laughed. "You said it yourself, Zuko. Your father left you in charge. He left you responsible for her, so you were her guardian and had every right to wish her away."

With a twist of her gloved hand, a crystal appeared in her fingers. "I came to offer you a gift, your dreams. Nothing more. But it is not a gift for a little prince who cares for a spoiled brat."

Zuko wanted to accept it. The crystal called to him with images of the family business safe, his father's love, his mother returned. No bratty, better younger sibling hanging over him like a knife, as likely to cut him as to hug him.

"Forget about your sister.

 _Your sister. Your responsibility. You have to protect her._

His mother had never made it clear what he was supposed to protect Azula from, the world, their dad, herself. But he tried. And maybe he'd failed before, but now he clenched his hands into fists at his sides and repeated his demand again.

"Give my sister back."

She sighed, the crystal vanishing with a pop. "Such a pity. Since you did not listen before, I will explain further in detail. Look there," she began, moving to his side and pointing out Azula's window.

Where usually there was a copse of trees and more suburbia, there was now what looked like a sprawling, labyrinthine castle on a mountain. Zuko realized he was now standing on a hill across from the gates to the labyrinth, the Queen still at his side.

"You see the castle there, at the center of my labyrinth? Your sister is there, waiting. I'm sure you familial bond will lead you to her eventually, only that's no fun for me." An orante clock appeared, hanging in the tree beside them, with one more hour than he was accustomed to. "You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth and get your sister back. Or else she becomes one of us, forever."

The Queen vanished into thin air, leaving only her final, ominous words behind. The second hand on the clock began to move, and Zuko sprang into action, running towards the gates as fast as he feet would take him.

* * *

Katara re-materialized just outside of her throne room. She hated that part, interacting with those so callous as to wish away family members even if they did regret it immediately. There was an almost overpowering feeling that something different was at play here, so she leaned against the door to listen to her new charge before entering.

To her surprise, the young twelve year old was trying to martial her goblins and turn them against her. Strange, reconnaissance indicated the heir, the elder child naturally preferred by cut-throat business types, was the cunning one. However, it would not surprise Katara if in a family of snakes even the mostly-cast-off good one was a skilled manipulator.

Well, better to keep the child on her toes. The goblins were too simple and too loyal to be turned astray.

She transported herself onto her throne in an overly showy display complete with showers of glitter and a swirling blue and purple orb to announce where exactly she was arriving. While capable of appearing in total silence and stealth, if this new charge was determined to act as enemy, Katara would keep some secrets.

"And who are you," the almost imperial twelve year old demanded.

Katara smiled, attempting to put her at ease. "Who else could I be, but the Goblin Queen?"

The girl's jaw dropped. "You mean, that story was real?"

"It came as quite the shock to Zuko, too."

She must process very quickly, for the twelve year old was only silent for a beat before scoffing, "I bet it was even a bigger surprise that you didn't cart him off to be king."

Katara raised an eyebrow. She hoped this was not a coping mechanism.

"So what's my idiot brother doing with his freedom now that he doesn't have to take care of me?"

Katara desperately wanted to share a tale of a callous older brother who abandoned her. It would chip away at the familial bond, and while Zuko would still be pulled towards the castle, the labyrinth would be a much harsher place. Plus, if he did manage to make his presence known, the surge of hope in her brother on the part of Azula could very well knock down all the walls in between them. The Goblin Queen also knew that to feel alone could very well break this already abandoned child.

"Look for yourself."

She tossed a crystal to the young girl, who stared, transfixed, at the image of her brother kicking at the doors to the labyrinth, demanding they open. Her eyes glanced up at Katara.

"He demanded a chance to get you back, so I gave him one. It's not a big chance, but he took it anyway."

"And my father? He's supposed to be home soon."

"He'll arrive home at midnight, yes? Just under three hours from now. He will find his children missing, and likely begin searching for them. And when your brother's thirteen hours are up, I will return him home at midnight, unwinding your father's panicked search."

Azula raised an eyebrow, looking back at the crystal. "You don't think he'll get me back. You don't think he'll win."

"No one ever does."

* * *

Zuko had spent his first thirty minutes running to the gate and yelling at them. Hurling abuse did not seem the key to opening them, however, so he began to scour the area around the gates, trying to find the way in.

Instead, he found a short, black haired girl catching fairies, knocking them out with a spray and then putting them in a large jar on the ground.

"Um, hi."

She whirled to face him, and Zuko realized she was blind.

"How are you catching them?" He blurted out before thinking.

"Magic." And she wiggled her fingers at him for good measure. "Now who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Zuko. My sister's in the castle, and I have to get her."

The girl laughed. "I see. She stole your dolls one too many times? Kept coming in when you wanted to seduce a girl? Did she mess up your mint condition comic books?"

"No," said Zuko, some negative emotion twisting his mouth. "She was teasing me again, and just being a brat, and it's complicated. Look, how do you get in?"

"Huh. So she hurt you, - don't think I'm not curious about the rest of that story - and now she's got consequences you want to save her from? You're quite the big brother. I'll help you." The small girl made for the gates.

"Thank you. I just can't leave Azula with that lady."

"The Goblin Queen? Katara's not that bad. She actually cares about the children wished away. If you fail, she'll find her a good family to adopt into, though if she's old enough to tease and make it hurt, Katara will have her work cut out for her. Not many of the Summer Court would appreciate an obviously barb-tongued heir. Too bad things are a mess with the Winter Court."

Zuko glanced around at the barren landscape, scraggly trees and pathetic bushes. "This is part of the Summer Court?"

"Oh no. The Underground is it's own, no influence here. But you see, hold on." She turned to the gates, rapped twice, and said, "open up, please."

"That's all I had to do?"

The girl shrugged. "It will probably help you to think of the Labyrinth as alive, as her own player."

Zuko stepped into the maze with a careful look around. "Come with me? I'm still really confused about what you mean by Summer Court. And my sister isn't going to be a goblin?"

The girl sighed. "I can't. I have a job to do, and it doesn't involve escorting confused young runners through the Labyrinth and explain Fae politics you'll never have to deal with. You'll wake up thinking this was a dream, win or lose. You seem honest though, like you got one of those faces people just tell their problems to." She stuck her hand out to shake. "Name's Toph. Good luck, Zuko."

"Thanks." As he ran off to the right, the gates closed behind him.

Toph turned to go back to her work, but her eyes widened as she remembered Zuko's voice, and just what about him encouraged her to share so much. She had to get to the castle. Katara needed to know exactly who was in the Underground.

She took off running, then slowed, then stopped. What was she running for? The fairy jar was right over there.

Whistling, Toph returned to her work.


	2. Chapter 2

The Labyrinth did a magnificent job of looking the same. Initially, it discarded the desert look for gray brick - with glitter still everywhere almost by the bucketful - but eventually as Zuko trekked through the winding walls, the drab color gave way to reddened sandstone in large squares. The floor beneath him began to incline upwards, and he smiled. The castle had been on top of the hill, so he must be getting close.

Following instinct, he rounded a corner and almost ran into a strange creature.

"Hello," she purred, if part-human, part-lioness, part-door creatures could purr. "Another runner? How delightful. And you smell absolutely-" she took a deep breath, dark lips parting, before her eyes snapped open in surprise. "Refreshing. Like a warm summer's eve or the cold of winter." Her gold eyes - well, he could only see one with how her hair was parted - glinted with something like victory. "Like a lightning strike."

"That's all very well and good but, I should get going." Zuko turned around, only to find the Labyrinth had shifted silently, and the way back was blocked.

"Where to, cold fire? The castle? Lost your child?"

"My sister. Now please, kind lady, let me pass."

She chuckled. "You are polite. That will get you far." She leveled her gaze, bending her head slightly bringing her top knot out of the woodwork. "Answer my riddle, and I will open the door."

"Pose away."

 _"If you give me away, you must keep me."_

Zuko narrowed his eyes, mentally turning the words over in his mind, as well as the conditions. There didn't seem to be a limit, so as long as he eventually got the answer right he'd get through. He was, however, pretty confident in his answer.

"Your word."

She hissed laughter, slowly pulling herself from the door. Zuko retreated a few steps as she left the doorway behind, a Sphinx in truth.

"And have you kept yours, little runner? What have you promised?"

"To protect my sister."

"Yet here you are-"

"Protecting her!" He cut her off with a snap of his arm, and her slow prowl halted in surprise. "All caretakers make mistakes when they are learning, as I have. But I have learned and will not make this mistake again. Furthermore, I answered your riddle. The door is open, now let me pass. You are not the lady with whom I would quarrel."

"You assume much-"

"I am the hero in this story. This is not how these things are done. Whether I fail to rescue my sister or succeed, there must be a tearful reunion. Now let me pass."

The Sphinx stepped aside with a considering stare. "You would do well here, I think. Now go, save your sister." She began to settle back into wood before adding, "oh, and do enjoy the gardens."

* * *

"He should have fallen into an oubliette by now," Katara muttered darkly.

Azula looked up from the corner of the library where she was coloring. After an easily foiled attempted coup, Katara moved herself and her charge to one of the many rooms the goblins were not allowed to touch.

"From the French? To forget?" Azula scoffed. "Zuko refuses to be forgotten." She turned back to her coloring books, and Katara would have missed her next comment if she wasn't gifted with supernatural hearing. "Even if that would be better for him, sometimes."

Katara frowned. Once again, the data she was provided by the girl did not match the recon done the moment the Labyrinth sensed one of the children might call for her.

The Goblin Queen breathed deep, and formed a crystal. "Find my brother. Tell him I need information, more than goblins can find."

"Could I learn to do that?" Azula asked as the crystal floated away.

"If you have magic, yes."

"How do I know if I have magic?"

Katara turned her eyes to the younger golden ones. "Well, all Fae have magic, and the longer you stay here in these realms, the more magic you will absorb and the more Fae you will become until you're one of us entirely. Once you can cast your own spell - light a candle, turn a page - the process cannot be reversed. It takes a few months," Katara admitted.

"So I won't turn into a goblin?"

"Heavens no. Not when so many Fae need heirs. Children are rare, and precious - even imperial twelve year olds."

"Hey!"

* * *

Zuko had wandered a bit farther before he heard roaring.

Normal eighteen year olds run away from roars, but seeing as Zuko was in the middle of a magical kingdom, and apparently the neutral one in a budding war between two others, he ran towards the sound. After all, being genre savvy saved him once - it likely would again.

He rounded a corner, and was taken aback - again.

Goblins, at least, he assumed they were goblins, were running around a large, six-legged cow with a furry beaver tail that was somewhat entangled in ropes, while someone who looked human dangled upside down from a nearby tree hurling threats at the goblins. The goblins must have been armed with something, for as the ran about the beast, they prodded it, and it roared, which only agitated the person further. Zuko seized a nearby rock and launched it at a goblin's head, who assumed it was his compatriots. While they struggled, Zuko bolted to the person to set them free.

"Many thanks," began the boy, tattooed with arrows. "Now let's get Appa."

However, once was Appa untangled, he roared - or bellowed since he seemed to be an herbivore from the teeth - and then flew away.

The boy sighed. "That's to be expected. Normally I'd fly after him, but he's headed home and the stablehands will take care of him. I have to thank our rescuer. I'm Aang, nice to meet you, runner."

"Same, and my name is Zuko."

"Mind if I come along? I can't really help, since to do so would forfeit the run in her favor, but I always like meeting new people."

"Um, I don't see why not."

"Great!" There was an awkward beat of silence, and then the bald twelve year old added, "well? Lead the way! I can't interfere, remember?"

"Right."

And the two set off, Aang chatting endlessly about whatever came to mind. He talked a lot about the flora and fauna of the Labyrinth. Appa was a flying bison, naturally, which were very rare in the Underground - "but not in the Summer Court! There's loads there."

"The Summer Court sounds like a lovely place."

"It is! That's where I'm from; I was just visiting friends. The goblins like to play tricks, you see. But Katara keeps them in line."

"Katara?"

"The Goblin Queen. Surely you've met her? That's just her title. She's pretty great. It's too bad you're only meeting her now, this way."

"You talk like we could be friends."

Aang tripped over air. "Of course you could be!"

"Is everyone in the Summer Court as endlessly hopeful as you?"

The kid blushed. "Nah, that's just me. There's people of all kinds in both courts, though Winter does tend to be a bit harsher. They have the coolest animals, too, like Summer. There's these badger moles - totally blind - who carve amazing tunnels in mountains. If you do get to meet my friend Toph, ask her about them. She learned her magic from them, so now she can get around just fine, despite what her parents think."

"I have met Toph. She's from the Winter Court?"

"Yep! And is the perfect example of how amazing people come from anywhere. Her affinity is for earth magic, like how my parents' affinities are for air. The current ruling house of the Winter Court tends to be called to fire magic, and you'd think that a Summer Court thing. Of course, we can do whatever we want, it just means some magic comes easier than others."

"So what's yours?"

Aang replied, "oh, air," too quickly and to casually to be the truth, but Zuko let it slide. He could keep whatever secrets he wanted, for there was a door coming up that Zuko had a feeling he needed to go through.

Or two doors? This was getting close to those bad trips his less-than-good-influence friends bragged about.

There were two faces of brass protruding from the doors, the knockers hanging from their necks, tied into the wood by more strands of brass. As Zuko approached, their large pointed ears perked up, and they grinned.

"Hello, dear runner. Been so long since we've seen one."

"Yes, so long."

Zuko bowed respectfully towards the doors. "What must I do in order to pass through to the castle?"

"Knock, silly!"

"Of course," the one on the right interjected, a bit more talkative. "One of us leads to the castle, the other to certain death."

"How do I know which is which?"

The two doors looked at each other, nodded, then faced Zuko again. "A riddle, of course. When you answer, a knocker will be freed."

"Answer correctly and head to the castle. Answer wrong and..." he trailed off dramatically.

"Certain death, yes yes. The riddle, if you please?"

Aang tapped Zuko's shoulder. "We could go another way?"

"I learned last time the Labyrinth will try to block me in. Best to face things head on. Besides, if I get us into trouble, you can magic your way out. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"If you're quite finished," began the right door. "We will begin."

 _"My wit is keen, my arguments pointed_  
 _I settle quarrels, yet never speak_  
 _I make peace without words."_

"A blade."

The left knocker unraveled, and Zuko confidently stepped up and knocked at the door. It creaked open of its own accord, and he stepped through, Aang behind him. The door revealed a simple path leading farther into the Labyrinth.

"Come on, Aang, we're fine."

"How could you be so sure of that answer?"

"I'm decent at riddles. My father's better, and he wanted to be sure his kids were as smart as him. I hope I'll get there one way. To be honest, if you keep your wits about you here, this isn't that bad. Other than the fact that this is taking time, it's pretty easy."

At that moment, the ground opened up beneath them, and the two fell into darkness.

 **A/N: Credit to my IRL friend and DM for the riddles.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Look at you, sis, all grown up and keeping men in prisons."

Katara shot her brother a look. "He only just fell in, and honestly, now is really not the time for jokes." She cast a quick spell of silence over the two of them. To Azula, it would look like they were whispering, and the spell would gently nudge her to keep reading the book on vampires she'd pulled off a shelf somewhere. "What did you find out?"

"You were right to send me in. There's something going on, but I think the kids are innocent of it. I walked past their house five times - five, and that's actively looking for it with a locator spell. Someone in that house has magic, and they wanted to keep other magical beings out. It's no wonder your goblins got things so confused - and a small wonder they discovered anything of importance."

"Confused about what?"

Sokka glanced towards the younger human. "I still don't have all the info you'd like, but since you're getting to the fifth hour I figured you'd want a report. She's not the good kid. Your runner is the one who went straight in a family full of crooks. Malice hangs throughout that house, and it's only lightest in his room. I can't get info on their father, not yet anyway, and can't seem to find any traces of other relatives."

Katara started to turn away to think, but her brother grabbed her shoulder. "Sis, they don't have a household, or any friends significant enough to leave traces in that house. They have no other family. One of those three can do magic enough to fool your goblins and delay me." He glanced at Azula, still reading. "Whoever their father is, I think it's only a matter of time before the two of them start throwing sparks."

* * *

"Well this sucks."

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"Aang, it's dark; you won't use magic on yourself for fear of interfering with me; we are literally in a place you throw people to forget about them. Oh, and time is running out to save my sister. This is the time to be pessimistic."

Zuko could feel the positive statement begin to bubble up in Aang. "Don't. Just, don't. Let's try and find, oh hey!" A faint orange glow suddenly appeared, and Zuko bent to pick up the old candle holder, flame flickering weakly.

Grey eyes blinked at him. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Light the candle."

"I didn't do anything." Aang opened his mouth to protest, but Zuko continued, "are we not in a magical labyrinth with a mind of its own? That's what Toph said. How else would I get the candle?"

The Fae boy hummed doubtfully, but replied, "and I suppose if your sibling bond is strong enough, the Labyrinth would try to help. Well, now we have some light for when Toph shows up to take us back to the beginning."

"What!"

"Yeah, Katara's not just going to leave you here to wait out the rest of the time. That's no fun."

"Screw that. I'll make a break for it."

"Good luck. The earth is Toph's domain. Speaking of-"

And a door suddenly crashed open. "Hello, Sparky. Long time no see. And you, too, Twinkle Toes."

"Wait, who's who?"

Aang flushed pink. "I'm Twinkle Toes."

Toph nodded. "Now come on, time to get you back to the beginning. Those are the rules."

"No matter," began Zuko, stepping out of the oubliette into a long, brick tunnel with puddles here and there. "I made it this far in what, four hours? I'll be fine. This is easy, a piece of cake."

"Oh really?" came a familiar voice, and one of the puddles twisted and grew into the Goblin Queen. "A piece of cake?"

Zuko straightened his spine. "Definitely."

The clock from the beginning appeared. "Then I shall raise the stakes for you. I'll just take two more hours off, shall I? Seven more for you." Aang whistled, long and low. The Queen turned to him and Toph. "If you help him, you forfeit the game for him."

"Doesn't matter," replied Zuko. "I'll meet any challenge of yours."

She raised an eyebrow as Toph smacked her forehead. "I see." She withdrew a crystal from beneath her cloak and bowled it down the tunnel before vanishing quietly. A circular mass of metal, sharp and angry, was now advancing on their position.

"The cleaners!" Aang shouted while Toph simply vanished into the floor. "Run!"

Zuko spotted the gap in the tunnel wall before Aang, and they slipped through and up the ladder, breathless. They climbed out into the light, finding themselves in gardens and comforted by Toph's laughter.

"Good going, Sparky! I've never seen her so flustered by a runner before."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I'd say so. She made a mistake and drove you deeper into the Labyrinth, instead of sending you back to start over."

"Those who act in haste often burn themselves," came a new voice.

Zuko followed the sound around a few hedges to find a man, draped in robes, sitting on a throne of books. He had a very triangular, grey beard and long mustache. He had a beige hat of sorts, lined with brown, perched on his head, and he looked gravely down his nose at the three.

Aang snorted at the sight, but Toph saluted. "Greetings, Wang Fire."

"An honor for you to see me, I'm sure."

"Can you help the little runner out?"

Zuko stiffened, prepared to protest, but then Wang Fire was staring his crazy eyes into Zuko's. "Some times, young man, it may seem like we're getting no where, but in fact, we are."

"O-kay?"

Wang Fire leaned back into this book throne. "Sometimes, the way forward is also the way back."

The strange man suddenly cast a look at Zuko that didn't seem that crazy at all. He opened his mouth as if to speak again, but then his hat moved. No, not his hat, a lemur that had curled up on his head to nap and was now half running, half scampering away. Wang Fire took after the lemur with all the dignity he could muster, which was not a lot.

"Well that was strange."

Toph smiled. "You don't know the half of it."

* * *

"Sis."

"Yes?"

"He's a good kid, and probably cleverer than he thinks. He dangerous, Katara, and about to come into his magic."

She nodded, watching in a crystal as the ground fell out from beneath the three and they fell towards the Bog of Eternal Stench.


	4. Chapter 4

"Toph, stop making bridges."

"Listen, if Sugar Queen was watching, she already would have stopped me, though I'd say I'm just helping me. That she hasn't done so means she dropped Zuko in here to keep him out of the way while she deals with something else. Could be another child wished away."

"Or my sister," Zuko chimed in. "She's probably tried at least once to stage a coup with the goblins."

The other two looked at him as if he had a second head, but he just shrugged. "We had an atypical childhood education."

"I dunno," began Toph, hopping from stone to stone to keep from getting the bog's stench permanently attached to her. "While a violent take over is certainly not approved of, a more subtle manipulative one would be welcome at either court."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Aang, but people are people."

"The Winter Court isn't all bad. They're just different."

"And I didn't say they were bad."

While the two bickered, Zuko took the lead now that there was solid ground to walk on. The argument was a pleasant soundtrack in the silence of the swamp, and Zuko hoped it would soon be over. A bridge, a real one, appeared before them, and he started to relax.

Fingers suddenly jabbed into his side. Zuko twisted away, arms moving in a partial block to trap the limbs, sending his green clothed attacker briefly stumbling along with his turn. She wrenched free and took up a defensive stance before the bridge.

"What the hell?" Zuko demanded, Aang and Toph standing silent behind him.

"I am Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors, tasked with guarding this bridge when there is a runner in the Labyrinth. None may pass without my permission."

Aang, the sweetheart, tried to slip past her.

Suki, however, proved to be good at her job. She slipped around Aang's reaches, tapping him with her fan to distract him, and just in general outfoxing him, until Aang stepped back with a shrug.

"I told you, none may pass without my permission."

"Well, can we have it then?" At her quizzical look, Zuko added, "your permission, I mean, ma'am. May we pass?"

A grin split her face. "I don't know if a runner has ever thought to ask that. Of course you can." She then fixed Aang with a look. "And you haven't been doing the drills I gave you. I'd better come along to make sure your rear end is properly kicked."

Aang looked to Zuko for help, only to hear, "well, you shouldn't neglect your training."

* * *

In the throne room, things were chaotic.

Katara had summoned a chair for Azula, where she now sat with a pile of books that Katara hoped wouldn't scar her. There wasn't time for her to check all the titles, and she had a sneaking suspicion that the girl didn't want to be gotten rid of, but that was a hurdle for later.

Now, the goblins were running amok, armor clanking, weapons dragging on the ground. Alarms were sounding throughout the kingdom as pressure had been felt on the border wards. It was not immediately clear if it was the dragons or trolls, but Katara would bet her money on the latter. With help, she'd secured a cease-fire with the dragons that she was hoping to turn into a real alliance, and sooner rather than later now that the Winter Court was unstable.

Trolls would be unpleasant, but as they were apologetically in favor of eating Fae flesh, Katara was unafraid to take a scorched earth policy.

Sokka was already adding his magic to the wards - strengthening them and speeding the alarms should they be triggered again. He would pass back through the villages and make sure the local mages were ready to go, just in case. She was tempted to order an evacuation, but if it wasn't that bad, she'd feel foolish.

There was one bit of magic she needed to do.

Sure Azula was buried in a book, Katara summoned a basin of water. "Aang," she whispered.

His face appeared in the water, and by the trees and bushes he was out of the Bog. She was likely talking to him in a puddle. "Katara, what's happening?"

"Potential attack. I'm looking into it, don't worry. But here." She reached through, handing what was a crystal on her side but a pomegranate on his. "Give this to Zuko. He needs to eat at least one seed."

"Will it hurt him?"

"No!" Katara recoiled. "It will just create a distracting dream for him. It will keep him out of the way for a time, an hour at most given his determination, and I need that to make sure everything is in line. I mean, Sokka knows what to do but-"

"-but it's your people. I know. Call us if it's bad. We'll get everyone from the city."

Katara shook her head. "They're already in the castle or in other lands. The runner usually has to fight their way in, remember? But if it's bad, I'll forfeit in his favor and call in you three. Now go."

She trailed her fingers over the water, and the image disappeared.

"I know you think he's not going to make it," Azula suddenly spoke, not looking up from her book. "But on year for his birthday, he got a knife as a gift. Etched on the blade is 'never give up without a fight,' and he's never forgotten that."

Chasing a feeling, Katara asked, "who gave it to him?"

"I...I don't remember. It's not important anyway. He still has three hours. You can't distract him that long."

"I won't be." Katara sent out a flurry of crystals to check her borders with all other domains. "The dream will come from himself, what he desires most." She cast a look at Azula. "He's an eighteen year old boy, so I doubt you'll be pulled into the dream, too."

"You can pull people into the dream?"

"It's complicated, but yes. Oh, before I forget, if all this worry turns out to be for naught remind me to check you for tampered memories. Not embarrassing things you've deliberately forgotten, but something magic would have erased."

Azula raised an eyebrow and lowered her book. "Why? Does that mean I could stay even if Zuko wins?"

Katara smiled casually. "Just a precaution. The coup distracted me and I forgot to check when you first arrived."

Seemingly satisfied, Azula returned to her book as the Goblin Queen began to brood.

* * *

"I'm not saying she's a bad ruler-"

"No, you are."

"I'm just critiquing-"

Suki cut him off again. "Look, Zuko, this 'small part' is actually her biggest function. This is why she exists, and why the Underground is separate and neutral from the other courts. People are gonna wish away children, and she needs to take care of those under her charge. She is an actual queen. There are small fiefdoms at her borders with lords and ladies who answer to her. Dragons and trolls wait at our borders, so she has to keep up a strong defense. You just heard the warning bells. One of the last two groups just got too close, and Katara now has two powerless humans on top of all her subjects to worry about. And all this at what's approximately the human eighteen."

Aang re-appeared. "Not to mention, she's been Queen since she was a little girl, though her dad helped, so there's no way she can trick a Court noble of equal rank into marrying her."

"Trick?"

"Yeah! See, the Underground has to have a ruler. That comes before any fiefdom. With how rare kids are, that means anyone stands to inherit a lordship and marries the Goblin Queen will see their lands swallowed into the Underground or given to a different relative. Border lands have done it before, on both sides, and Lord Hakoda probably wouldn't have minded joining the Underground. With two kids, though, one inherits each. If things had gone differently, the two would be pretending they hadn't decided on an inheritance yet."

"That's...complicated."

Suki laughed. "Now imagine the only heir to the Court's throne dies. A changeling can't step in there."

Toph nodded, adding, "you know, I wonder if my parents have replaced me, yet."

Suki wrapped her arm easily around the shorter girl. "I doubt it. Your parents like image right? They're probably telling anyone and everyone about how their daughter is a highly sought after companion to the Goblin Queen. You'll go back to fifty marriage proposals."

As the two girls continued talking, Zuko turned to Aang. "So where'd you run off to?"

"Thought I saw a butterfly."

"Naturally."

Aang produced a pomegranate. "I did find this. Want to share?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Won't I be trapped here forever if I eat fairy fruit?"

"Um, no? The whole point of this is to get you out? Why would the Labyrinth try to keep you?"

He kept up his incredulous look at Aang for just a few seconds before relenting. "You're right. Besides, the pomegranate is a Greek myth. Here." He took the fruit from Aang, drawing a knife to remove the top and score it into four pieces like he'd seen his father do. He offered Aang a fourth of the fruit, then gestured to the girls. "Share with them."

"Great idea!" Aang shoved a handful of seeds into his mouth, then caught up with Toph and Suki.

Zuko, putting away his knife, didn't see Aang spit out the seeds. He looked up as Aang offered pieces to the two girls, and popped a few seeds between his teeth. The tangy flavor exploded, and Zuko couldn't help a smile. He'd never really liked the taste of fruit in candies and drinks before, but if this is what they were like in the original form, he'd eat some when he got home.

As he ate a few more, he stumbled, dropping the fruit and catching himself on a tree. The ground sounded very good, and he slowly sank to his knees.

Ahead, Aang fell silent and looked away.

"Twinkletoes, what did you do?"

Zuko's face hit the dirt, and the dark took over.


	5. Chapter 5

Katara blinked, momentarily confused.

The room focused around her, and she ran through her mental checklist. There was no danger, no malicious intent or magic hanging about. In fact, she seemed to be at a party, what for she couldn't say. The hall was decked in reds and golds, so someone important was being honored. The other guests were happily chatting and partaking of refreshments, so they felt no threat either and actually did what to celebrate what was going on.

The realization dawned on her just as the cry went out announcing the guest of honor.

"Hail Lord Zuko!"

Shit.

* * *

"What do we do?"

"Right now, I don't want to hear from you."

"I was doing what our queen asked-"

"Just, stop, okay? I get it, but we're still mad right now. We'll forgive you when he stops sleep walking."

"That's no supposed to happen, you know. Not to humans."

"What are you doing here? Warn a girlfriend before you show up next to her and the frankly terrifying runner of the Labyrinth."

"Lovely to see you, too. Come on, just follow him, keep him out of harm. If my suspicions are right, things are gonna get complicated. Now, take this kiss because I got to get back to checking defenses, since I can't find Katara."

"I couldn't see that; was it disgustingly sweet?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear from me- OW!"

"Shit, where'd Zuko go?"

* * *

Katara internally seethed around the champagne in her hand. She had complete faith in Sokka, but if she wasn't there to help her people she'd feel guilty for a long time. Yet if she broke out of the dream, she'd free Zuko, too.

Well, no point in wasting time that could be used as part vacation, part character study. There might be a way to use this, later. She couldn't quite tell what it was that he desired most. Surrounded by nobles lauding him, he looked both happy and uncomfortable having dreamed himself a man respected and something of a leader.

Lord Iroh of the Winter Court breezed past her - well, an empty dream construct. He looked a younger man with such a smile, wide and proud as he took in Zuko-

-who smiled under his praise. Interesting.

She was turning Sokka's theories over in her head - Zuko would've conjured an accurate shade of Iroh were he the fae her brother thinks is involved - when the young man appeared before her.

Her breath got lost somewhere between her lips and her lungs.

Without that vibrating rage, the caged determination, his golden eyes shone. There was a joy radiating out of him, and it lightened his whole countenance. Katara realized in that moment she would very much like to run her fingers over the angles and edges of his face, tracing from his cheekbones to his chin, down his neck, to learn the story of the scar. She missed his informal t-shirt, for this fancy collar hid what she knew to be a very nicely formed collarbone.

Zuko offered her his hand, still meeting her eyes after her quick perusal.

He did not looking at her with thinly veiled desperation, like a third son with nothing to inherit. He had no stiff tolerance, like an heir with everything to lose. He wanted to dance with her, with Katara and the Goblin Queen.

His eyes didn't leave her face until her hand was in his.

"I'm glad you could make it," he began, pulling her into a loose hold on the dance floor. He led confidently, as if this was all he had been raised for. "This fete would have been much duller without a star such as you to light the room."

"Oh my," she replied, a playful smile breaking across her face. "Such flattery, and from the guest of honor, too. I ought to be the one waxing poetic about the brilliance of your smile, how you illuminate every conversation in this room."

He chuckled, and in their steps to avoid a collision with another couple he pulled her slightly closer. "That would be quite the compliment, given that we haven't yet spoken tonight. Or were you merely relying on memories of past conversations? I do like to hope our many duels have left the spectators improved."

"You are ever the flirt," she retorted, slipping more into his space, lost already in the game.

"Says the woman who's not so much resting her hand on my shoulder as caressing my bicep."

She flushed, even as she shrugged nonchalantly. "I was always taught to appreciate the finer things in life when presented to me." She shot him a glance, faux demure, from beneath fluttering eyelashes. "Don't tell me I must resist the temptation now."

He laughed, bright and carefree. "You know, we really should dance more often."

Almost pressed against him as they moved about the floor, something in Katara's gut kicked. She didn't know if this dream gave him knowledge of exactly what he just suggested, but she found herself formulating a positive reply when someone cut in.

He was slightly taller than Zuko, and his hand on the young lord's shoulder pulled the couple to an easy stop, their frame relaxed as Zuko turned to look at the stranger. He was lithe, with the same golden eyes and angular face. He practically glowed with joy as he took in the guest of honor.

"Son, I am so proud of you."

There was one half of a second or less - the smallest moment to see it and still believe it was real - when Katara saw the beginnings of the most wonderful smile. Her breath caught before what would have been a smile to break through clouds, and she knew it could change her life.

But it vanished in that heartbeat, covered with dark look as Zuko broke from the dance hold. He stepped away from both Katara and the older man, his face unreadable as the band began to play out of tune.

"It's a dream."

His voice was low, strained but sure, and the tempo only increased as he spoke and the room fell apart around them. "You're not real." He kept his gaze locked on the man, aside from a few pained glances at Katara to repeat, "you're not real."

Zuko turned and fled, pushing his way through the crowd of party-goers who melted when he passed them by.

His father stared after him, stoic, foreboding, even as everything else faded into white until Zuko's fist connected with barrier, sending the dream shattering into shards.

Katara blinked, refocusing on her library.

She cried.

* * *

Zuko blinked, stumbling but managing to brace himself on a brick wall. He reeled with the conflicting sensation of the hard earth and the fairy-like memories of floating through a dance.

"Zuko, are you okay?"

His three allies stood there, loosely arranged and watching him with concern. The two girls relaxed, but Aang still looked uncomfortable. He'd deal with that later. Zuko took a fortifying breath - and as the hum of magic strengthened, the fae exchanged quick glances. "Alright. Where am I?"

"Just outside the Goblin City," Toph began. "If we hurry, we can break in and get you on the way to the castle before too much resistance is mustered."

"Then let's go."

Aang reached out and tapped Zuko on the shoulder, who flinched. "What did you see, in the dream that is?" He retracted his hand as Zuko laughed, a little bitter, pushing away the last memories of being wanted, loved, respected.

"Stones turned to bread."


	6. Chapter 6

"So my brother's at the gates."

"Hmm? Oh, right. Sorry about this," Katara added, distractedly encasing Azula in a crystal. "You are the bait if he makes it to the Escher room." With the mortal sister safely tucked away, the Goblin Queen donned a more imposing outfit and took her place to observe the battle in the city. She could feel magic being tossed about, but before she could cry foul, the intent of self-defense reached her - and she realized the magic did not belong to her friends.

"So Azula, you may not have lost your brother after all," she mused aloud.

* * *

Zuko was getting pretty good at battle magic, he thought.

The three Underground natives had stressed the importance of _intent_ with magic, especially here. The Underground was about wishes, so pure _want_ would do more for him than anything else. Aang stressed wanting to defend themselves, as that would clear their path and keep the goblins from harm, and might keep Katara from looking too close.

He felt more alive than he ever had before. Flames easily bat away the goblin ammunition and sent them running - unscathed - to hide away as he carved a path to the castle gates.

He didn't see his allies exchange glances with every pointer they give him.

The Goblin Queen didn't seem to be mounting any serious effort. The goblins rushed them with no strategy, no coordination. They just didn't adapt to his tactics, and the few precious years he spent as his father's heir came roaring back.

When Zuko found himself in a throne room, no Goblin Queen or sister in sight but the sense he is meant to race through a doorway, he turned to the three who followed him all this way.

"I think you have to stay here."

"What?"

Zuko just _looked_ at Aang, who took a step back and shrunk under that gaze. Zuko mentally promised to feel bad for that later. He looked at Toph, who seemed unfazed, and Suki, who considered him like a puzzle or prey.

"This is the way these things are done, right? The hero has allies who help him along, but in the end, he still faces the dragon alone."

At that, Suki chuckled. "I promise you, Zuko, the Goblin Queen is not a dragon."

He shrugged. "Whatever metaphor works."

Zuko turned to leave, but Toph added, "If you need us, just call. We'll be there, and we'll help. Promise. Even Aang here. Hell, especially Aang."

"That was uncalled for."

"Oh really? Well-"

He hurried through the doorway, leaving them bickering away.

The stairs wound upwards, a spiral that coiled like a spring, and just when Zuko might have exploded in frustration, the staircase opened into a strange room full of more stairs. Trying to follow any one possible path soon twisted beyond his ability to follow. Gravity didn't work like that - couldn't work like that. He took a few steps forward, hoping things would clear but they didn't. It was Escher's dream, and Zuko had half a mind to turn around and quit when he heard laughter.

Azula, across the room, raced up a staircase and along another, running parallel to the ground, and vanished behind another staircase.

He didn't think; he just ran. He didn't think about how the room defied logic, he just chased his sister. She was always agonizingly beyond his reach, laughing, spirited, happier than he'd seen in a long time. She never reacted to his calls, so he chased the phantom with growing desperation.

The Goblin Queen lingered in the room as well - always near but out of reach, watching, waiting, her face devoid of expression or emotion. Zuko tried to pay her no mind, his attention solely on what would get him and Azula out.

This was new - a fear caught in this throat. It knotted itself into an angry ball at the base of his neck, curling on itself as he pushed himself farther and faster up and down and across and under impossible staircases. He wasn't going to leave her, not without a fight. Each thump of his heart and laughing view of Azula just beyond his reach started to feel like the tick of a clock, of time slipping through his grasp.

When Zuko stood practically five stories up, looking down at his sister giggling just above the ground at the very bottom, he almost collapsed. How was he supposed to get to her, when this very structure seemed to change to suit its pleasure?

Almost as soon as he gave into despair, determination roared to life again. He did not slip his way past sphinx and out of oubliette just to give up now. There was magic at his fingertips, and maybe he was untrained, but fire seemed to like him. Maybe there was a way to harness that, to speed his chase.

Zuko looked over the edge, and realized the obvious. He did not even glance at the Goblin Queen as he threw every inch of will into _getting his sister back_ as he stepped off the stairs and jumped.

He heard Azula laughing brightly and an agonized cry as the stairs exploded away. Air seemed to grab at him, slowing his fall as he came to easily rest on a platform that wasn't there before, sandstone pillars in states of disarray ringing it. Of course, it also seemed to be floating in midair as far as he could tell with soft clouds obscuring any further line of sight, though a fancy clock with thirteen hours hung in the clouds between two pillars.

The Goblin Queen, in soft tans and white, paced like a caged lioness, cloak fluttering behind her.

"You absolute, suicidal, unthinking fool!" She rounded on him, gloved hand angrily tossing the cloak aside. The bones holding it to her shoulders rattled. "Do you have any idea the magic it takes to do this? To save you from death?"

Zuko smiled grimly, resolute, and straightened his shoulders. "I was confident you wouldn't let me die."

She hissed back, "So you gamble with your life and your sister's? I ought to rig the game in my favor. But it doesn't matter, you won't be able to leave, anyway."

 _what._

* * *

Katara managed to keep the smirk off her face at his expression. This was a serious issue and while she would collect what humor she could, he needed to know this was not a laughing matter.

"Don't think you can hide your magic from me. I've felt it brush my goblins aside and I sense it now, humming under your skin."

"What does that have to do with breaking the deal?"

"Aboveground, Earth, whatever, it has no magic, but it used to. We once wandered alongside you - my grandfather kept a summer home Above. But when all homes went Under we took the magic with us, and Earth remembers. She still feels that hole and seeks to fill it. She will suck the magic from your very bones, and, since it's tied to your life, when you fail to replace a millennium's store of magic, she will take that, too. Untrained, you have a month, tops."

His eyes narrowed, and she continued, "Your sister likely has such an aptitude. You both can stay, if you like. I won't force her to be adopted out. However, I can't in good conscience let you leave to wither and die."

Zuko seemed to be mulling her words over, and then he glanced at the clock. "You're trying to distract me."

"No, I'm not; I swear by-"

"It won't work. See, I've read the stories. I know how these things must be done." He leveled a gaze at her, and Katara really wanted to kidnap him. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way-"

"Don't you understand? You'll _die_ if you go back! I am trying to _save_ you!"

"-to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child stolen-"

"Don't you care about your own life? You won't be a prisoner, not at all."

"-from me. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great-"

"I am offering you training!" Katara took a step forward, hand out and offering, desperation beginning to creep over her features as emotion finally started bleeding into his as he recited The Words. He paused, listening. "I am offering you a new life, magic and power, fame, whatever you want, your heart's desire-"

She thought of a slender man with golden eyes and cut off, flinching.

Zuko did not stop the pained sneer from curling across his lips. "What do you know of my heart's desire?" With his shoulders squared he looked her dead in the eyes. "You have no-"

There came a roar and the ground beneath them shook as the entire system of defenses for the Underground were attacked, even the small pocket world Katara had created. She stumbled under the onslaught, and then suddenly Zuko's arms were around her and they were falling to the side. She noted, briefly, that he had just shoved her out of the way of a falling pillar. That second of consideration was all she took before wrapping the two of them up in the sense of home, and they were deposited without ceremony in the throne room in time for another rolling earthquake.

"What's happening?"

Azula crouched by the throne, and Zuko immediately ran to her. Katara did _not_ miss his warmth as she stood, centering herself in the Labyrinth. With its ruler in place, the kingdom's defenses were naturally strengthened, as was her magic. She tossed a crystal back towards the siblings, letting it land on the throne.

"My kingdom is under attack. In accordance with a deal made with my brother, I forfeit in your favor as it is no longer safe for you to remain. Take the crystal and you will both be returned home, time reordered so it will be as if you never left. Do not think I have forgotten about your magic - I will come for you once the dragons or trolls or whatever have been dealt with."

With a fortifying breath, the pale outfit faded away to more practical battle armor. She looked back at the siblings, still staring at her. "What are you doing? Go!"

A hand around his sister's wrist, Zuko reached for the crystal. However, at that moment another attack was launched - magical, if it was trolls they had help - and in the quake the crystal rolled off the chair. Zuko started after it, but this time the quake was accompanied by an intelligible roar, echoing from all sides.

"Goblin Queen!"

Her mind tried to match the voice to one she knew, and she had some vague ideas. Confident Sokka would know, she sent a crystal to summon her brother, and with that movement she was surprised to see the siblings still there, frozen, pale with shock.

Now she was getting frustrated. "What?"

Azula replied, her voice timid with awe and fear, "That's our dad."


	7. Chapter 7

The Goblin Queen stared at the siblings, blinked, and when her brother and friends burst into the throne room, she let her magic explode out from her, forming a bubble as she froze time for them. Sokka took one look at her and then wove a spell to deflect attention from the bubble, just in case.

"Explain."

Azula and Zuko glanced at each other. "We can't," he began. "We always thought-"

He broke off, unsure, and his sister picked up the tale. "Dad always said we were alone, that we had no family and it was just us three. No one ever came to see us, and Mom vanished, so why would we disagree? We had no reason to think he was some magical elf."

"That was his voice? This doesn't make sense," Aang began. "Why would a prince of the Winter Court hide children Aboveground?"

"Our dad is what?"

Sokka lifted a placating hand to both the siblings and Goblin Queen. "Actually, hold on. Ozai went missing almost twenty years ago and didn't show up for nearly fifteen years, still the mysterious and distant manipulative bastard we knew. There were rumors tying him to that not-so-noble-blooded lady his father hated which vanished once he showed up without her. Katara-" Sokka shot a look at Zuko who followed every word with narrowed focus, calculating with him. "-Katara I think these are their kids."

"What?"

The entire gang seemed shocked, but Sokka pressed on. "Maybe she wanted to run away, or actually ran with the kids. Maybe he thought this was just a short fling, I don't know. But we all know the line of Sozin are masters at turning unexpected situations to their advantage." He nods to Azula. "Madame General of the Black Chicken insurrection. The kid's magic wouldn't activate until they were here. If he adopted a Labyrinth kid, that would definitely ease his public image and put him leagues ahead of the heir-less Iroh in the running for king once the Council gets around to voting. In addition, the kid would be wholly dependent on him."

"It would probably be Azula," Zuko added, emotionless.

"I wouldn't be manipulated," she began, affronted but her brother's hand on her shoulder stopped the initial rage.

"Sis, you would be alone in a strange land full of strange customs, suddenly an only child and suddenly a princess. Don't pretend you don't want that a little bit. You would be blinded at least for a bit by awe and confusion." His voice was kind, but he kept glancing at the Queen.

For her part, Katara nodded. "We can sort that out later. He's just declared war on a neutral territory on behalf of his house if not the Winter Court. I have to respond, and it will not be with kid gloves."

Zuko looked at his sister for confirmation, but she was too in shock to react. He met the Goblin Queen's gaze and replied, "do what you have to."

She breathed, and the little bubble of time faded away.

While Zuko and Azula gathered their bearings, Katara turned to the others. "Suki, I need you to gather any magic users you can, dwarves, subjects, whoever you can find. Toph-"

"Defenses. Already on it." She and Suki hurried into a passageway.

"Aang, I need you to go to the Summer and Winter Courts. They need to know what's happening. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." The smallest of their friends looked more serious and grim than she'd ever seen. "It's high time I start doing my job." With that, he took a running start and dove out a window, catching a burst of wind and flying away.

Katara turned to her brother. "Any chance the dragons with throw in with us?"

"I mean, a little. If Ozai's poked on those borders then he's trespassed. I don't know if it's enough."

"Go anyway. Try not to look desperate, more like we're offering them an opportunity for glory."

"I'd rather be here to help fight-"

"As the strategist, I think you know why _my brother_ should not be here, too."

His voice dropped, suddenly quiet, serious, desperate. "Katara, don't. We don't know what his plan is. Besides, I'm not technically your subject. You can't tell me what to do."

"On the field of battle, I outrank you, so yes I can. Please, Sokka. Go. The faster you do the sooner you're back."

"I love you, sis."

"I love you, too."

Sokka raced off, leaving Katara alone to sigh heavily. With a gesture, she released the spell holding the goblins in their kinder, smaller form. If threatened, they would grow taller and more menacing to defend themselves and the Labyrinth.

Zuko's low voice reminded her she was not, in fact, alone.

"You are brave."

She met his gaze with her shoulders square and her spine straight even as the weight of her kingdom's defense sapped at her strength. "I am a queen."

A look passed between them, and the rest of the world could have fallen apart without their noticing. Respect was thick, enough to cut. Something like forgiveness was there, too, underlain with a heat she turned away from first.

"You two should head somewhere safe. Off the library is-"

She broke off, confused, as she felt the Labyrinth pull away like a creeping vine in too much light. There was a crack, like stone split in two by lightning, and she instinctively threw her arms out in defense, comforted by sensing the same from Zuko as he yanked his sister under his arms.

A spell was wrapped around her, around the personal sphere of protection she had cast for herself. It writhed and wiggled about, insidious and slippery as a serpent as it pressed inward, not with lethal intent but to bind and maim.

Lightning struck stone again, and the golden-eyed man from the dream stood in her throne room looking like a cat who caught the mouse and was ready to play with its dinner. There was a faint buzz around him as he threw his will and magic against the Labyrinth's attempts to kick him out and Katara's attempt to break free. She focused her attentions on finding a weak spot, letting the conversation flow through her mind to process later.

"Father," Zuko began, voice flat, one hand on Azula's mouth. "What brings you here? I have it on good authority that we'll still be home before bedtime."

Ozai frowned. "Do you have any idea of the magic and planning you have wasted? You couldn't wait four years? No. You throw it all away before your sister would be taken seriously at Court."

"It's Azula, Father. They would take her seriously at _eight_ or learn to the hard way."

"You know nothing of how things are done-"

"But I can guess." Ozai lifted an eyebrow and the air grew thick. "It's like any political hive. Smiles and handshakes hiding hatred and cutting words. Azula will thrive here; you know this, and would put a price tag on it. I don't fit; I never did, so when Mom left you were free to plot."

"She didn't leave."

The small scuffle between the two siblings stuttered to a halt as Zuko froze. Azula broke free by a few feet, and then processed what her father said. "Mom's alive?"

He was not pleased when he replied, "Yes. On a technicality. Killing touches the soul, and any half-trained Fae can pick out a murderer from a crowd." His derisive glance at Zuko was not missed. "She's somewhere Aboveground, leeching off my magic to stay alive. Why do you think I kept coming back down here? But enough of this chatter, come, Azula."

"You want to kill Mom?" Her voice was small, on the edge of broken. Katara, her space slowly shrinking, could feel Zuko's rage even still.

"She stole you away from me. I could enjoy her plot to run away together - she was the ideal match even if no one would approve of our marriage. You, daughter, are proof of that. But she-" He paused to consider his words. "- _objected_ to returning, to my parenting. And so she ran, and used the skills that broke us free of my parents to slip away from me. Zuko was twelve when I found you again. You wouldn't remember, of course. I may have edited your memories."

"Liar," Zuko snarled.

"Please," Ozai laughed. "Don't tell me you actually thought it was natural fire that burned you?"

Katara risked a slip of concentration to look at Zuko. He was pale, paler than normal, with the horrified, vacant look - matched by Azula - of someone who has just had false memories ripped away and the truth returned. Ozai said something else, but Katara missed it as a small wisp of magic broke through the spell. She almost crushed it before recognizing the Labyrinth, and she welcomed the bond.

"I don't give up on what is mine. So come, Azula, and we will get my throne. If you like, it would be a simple matter to free this one for you."

The young girl glanced at Katara who widened her eyes in desperation.

"Aren't you forgetting? I'm the oldest. I stand in her way."

Ozai's attention returned to Zuko. "Do you think I am a fool? I am the younger son of Azulon. Your uncle has tried for years to argue his claim before the Council, yet here we still are in a succession gridlock for his son is dead and he refuses to remarry. I don't need you."

"Then there's nothing stopping me from making a claim, is there? I'm intelligent, of age, apparently of the Sozin line, and I beat the Labyrinth. I will protect my sister."

With an angry purr, Ozai finally took a step forward. "It's not murder if it's pest control-"

Several things happened after his slip of concentration.

First, Katara broke free as the Labyrinth immediately ceased resisting Ozai and flooded its queen with power.

As a result, Ozai stumbled slightly as if a chair he'd been leaning on had moved. With both his constricting spell broken and the Labyrinth resistance gone, he suddenly had a lot more magic at hand then he was expecting - not that he got to use any of it.

Zuko shoved all the hurt and pain down and away, slipping into a ready stance. His hand went to the knife his uncle gave him for his tenth birthday - a gift he now remembered.

And Azula - who had sat for hours in the library reading primers on magical creatures and politics, as well as primers on magic when Katara wasn't looking - Azula gathered up magic with wide hands and spread fingers casting through the air like a net. Emotions rolling but head and heart clear, she put a lightning bolt through Ozai's knee.


	8. Chapter 8

Sokka's voice was full of relief as he swept his sister into a hug. "You're okay."

Over his shoulder, Katara watched the officials drag Ozai away. After the lightning, magic had still flown fast and hard. Her heart still raced slightly from the fear of trying to protect two novices facing their powerful father.

She glanced at Zuko to see him watching her. She blinked slowly, a movement of thankfulness and trust. With a short nod from him, they both went back to staring after the fallen prince of the Winter Court as Zuko retreated deeper into the protective personal bubble of his uncle.

"Don't let anyone touch you," she had hissed when it was over, when Aang and the first set of nobles barged in. "Not until Prince Iroh arrives. Ozai has _friends_."

There hadn't been time to say more, not without risking a paranoid reputation. Still, Iroh wouldn't mess with memories, and he wouldn't let anyone who would near the only malleable witnesses.

"Katara!"

She would worry about trials and politics later. Now, now was the time to sink into her father's hug and be a little girl again.

* * *

 _My father took everything from me._

That was Azula's old game, finding his favorite toy, then book, then homework, and making it vanish. It shouldn't be a surprise that his father turned out to be better than either of them expected.

Beneath his hand, Azula's shoulder twitches slightly as she shifts, settles. Only one other noble has tried to get close, and Uncle promised to explain why he navigated them away from the stranger later.

Zuko's memories were swirling, trying to organize the mess left behind by a would-be angry god. He both remembered and didn't remember Uncle, and apparently confidence in his own recollection was another thing to add on the list of things Ozai stole.

Azula relaxed as the icy gold eyes of their father are finally dragged from the room. She leaned a little into her brother.

 _Well, not everything. But close._

* * *

Wine glass held to her chest almost like a shield, Katara surveyed the dancefloor from her place at the side.

The guests of honor were dancing again, a simple but fast waltz. The siblings made a stunning pair, and clearly their few months of rushed lessons had paid off, for the few errors in step were minor and could easily be blamed on their height difference.

(Of course, Azula getting to attend a ball at such a young age was highly unusual, much like most things surrounding the pair to be honest. But it would be an even more serious social gaffe to celebrate only half of the returned Fae than it would be to have a child at a ball. Besides, Iroh seemed to have restricted Azula to dancing only with family or old, married Fae - despite a few young males' attempts otherwise.)

All rumors said they were adjusting well, and that Zuko's prediction was right: Azula was already running circles around the less talented politicians

Katara emptied her glass, handing it off to a servant with a thank you as the song wound to a close. She hesitated before reaching for another glass. The stories of what happened seemed to have scared some of the more timid Fae away and she had barely danced. She would not, however, let good hospitality go to waste.

Another's hand intercepted hers before she reached the glass. Zuko smiled, eyes dancing with mischief and a silent invitation to dance as a slow waltz began to play.

Echoing his smile, she followed him out onto the floor.

He had barely lead them through a first pattern before he was speaking. "Well, this seems awfully familiar, doesn't it?"

Katara tossed her head, a haughty, teasing expression in her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Be that as it may," he replied, an eyebrow raised. "It is nice to dance with you, for real. You are a graceful partner, and I am perplexed that you don't dance more often."

"I'm impressed by your studies, but you can drop the act. No one else is listening."

"Oh thank God. Though I am a little disappointed; I practiced what I was going to say for a good fifteen minutes. You would not believe the rules for conversation Prince Iroh made me memorize."

She chuckled. "I would, actually."

"Right! Queen, of course you know the game and are even better at it than I am."

"Oh, are the masses of throne hungry heiresses getting to you?"

"There are so many! How can there be so many?"

"Imagine them trying to figure out how to throw themselves at your uncle."

He drew back from her, proper dance hold be damned. "No. I refuse to think about that, even though I know realize it's true." He settled back into the correct form, perhaps holding her a bit closer than before. "You and your brother both have a talent for finding the exact right thing to say to offset me."

"Ah, you've met Sokka."

"How could I not? I am the guest of honor, after all."

"Rightly so."

She could get used to this, drawing smiles and blushes alike to his cheeks, and perhaps that flashy annoyance if she told enough puns. There was that familiar pang as she remembered the throne she held and the one he could claim.

"I may as well ask," she began, sweeping her feelings under a rug once more. "Do you have any questions I could answer?"

"Have you ever played with my memories?"

"What? No. I only would have, only could have, if your father hadn't interfered. But I doubt taking your memories away would have stuck, now that it all has come out." She pressed a sense of honesty through their connection and met a stone wall. "Good. Someone has trained you about that. Don't let someone you don't know touch you without that wall. Keep your secrets."

"Being heir to a throne is terrifying."

"So is holding one."

The song ended, and the crowd burst into scattered applause while couples re-sorted themselves. Katara was swept up by her father after a slightly awkward parting from Zuko. She didn't see him again - except out the corner of her eye - until she was absorbed in talking magical shop with Aang and Haru.

She felt the music change, and glanced over to see Zuko headed her way. She had already started turning to him, a hand extended easily picked up by his, by the time he closed the distance and asked her to dance.

"Another slow waltz?" she asked, tucked into his arms and following his lead. "I have seen you dance the faster movements, so I know you can dance well. Why not with me?"

"I'm not quite good enough to dance fast without thinking about it, and I'd much rather think about conversation with you."

"Oh."

Zuko smiled. "Can I ask another question?"

"Of course."

"Why didn't you try to stop me from breaking out of the dream? You very easily could have."

Katara hoped she wasn't blushing. "It wouldn't have been right. I wasn't supposed to be there anyway - I intended to shore up defenses from an attack and actually unlock your sister's memories, with permission of course, for something she said made me wonder. Regardless, you pulled me in, so I had to play along. Entice you to stay without being obvious. Even if I had known, I would have broken the dream sooner trying to keep you focused on me."

"For tricksters, you care about rules."

She grinned playfully. "The best tricks are played when you fly directly in the face of the rules, after all. Look at you, a lost heir sweeping in at the last second, stopping what might have boiled into war and throwing out another claimant. Your father didn't play by rules he should have, and he's paid for that. I think your sister will have far too much fun making the rules work for her."

Zuko smiled back, "and for her alone."

His grip subtly tightened around her, and the two let the natural turn of the waltz pull them closer. Katara risked smiling up at him, but in that moment his eyes were locked ahead, deftly navigating them through the other couples.

"You know your floorcraft."

"I don't really think waltz should be a full-contact sport."

"Oh?" Her eyebrow was raised flirtatiously to match her tone, and he flushed pink.

"It's- it's a human term for sports where people run into each other and sometimes they get hurt and it's kinda violent but also fun - of course dance is a full contact sport in the sense that for some dances you need to be close-"

"Zuko, Zuko I'm sorry. I was teasing. Relax."

The music faded away as they came to a stop, something between them pulled tight. She slipped out of his grip like water, though his fingers curled slightly as if he wished to make her stay. She pulled away all the same, retreating. The night was ending, and she'd dance the final song with her father, as she always did when Sokka managed to save his third dance for Suki, and then vanish away to the Labyrinth, alone. Zuko was still faintly pink, and there seemed to be words on his tongue that Katara didn't want to hear. Now that the song was over, now that the spell was broken, she just wanted to be alone to put herself together.

A debutante swooped in to grab Zuko, and Sokka snagged his sister's arm. "So why do you look like someone just killed Momo?"

"Someone killed Momo?"

"No! No, why would anyone kill Momo? You just look like all the wind got taken out of your sails, when not thirty seconds ago you were having the time of your life with that handsome new prince. As your older brother, I have to worry."

"Shouldn't you be beating him with a stick for having touched me?"

"It's a fine line I walk between 'you are too good for him to even look at you' and 'he ought to be banging down Dad's door with a marriage proposal already the ungrateful slacker.' Tell me what's up."

Katara glared at Sokka. "No one will let him bang on Dad's door, not when he's in line for a throne, and the Labyrinth will take her heir first."

"You know how long we live for, right? You don't have to be worried about this right now."

"Yes, I do, Sokka, because I don't have the luck of an ice cube in Hel of having someone look at me the way you and Suki look at each other."

Sokka pulled her against a nearby wall. "If this is jealousy, Katara get over yourself because you won't improve your luck this way. If this a moment of weakness, let me get you champagne. But, listen-" He broke off to smile. "You're not always watching when others are looking at you."

Questions leapt into her lips, but before she could voice any, he tucked her arm through his and pulled her towards the dance floor. "Come, this is the penultimate number, and we should spend it dancing."

The waltz was too fast to talk much through, and Sokka kept deflecting her questions as if he had the affinity for water she did. Then the song ended, and _he left her there_ to whisk Suki into the new pattern. Katara shoved her irritation down, slipping out of the way of Iroh leading his niece forward. Ready to just twist home and prepare a messy prank for her brother, Katara almost jumped out of her skin when a hand touched her arm.

Cautiously, it trailed down until it lightly held her hand. She turned, half-afraid of who she'd see.

Zuko bowed slightly when her eyes met his. "May I have this dance?"

"It's the final song."

"I know."

"We've already danced twice."

"Will you dance with me again?"

"You know what you are asking?"

"I have a healthy uncle and younger sister, and the issue of succession hasn't been figured out, if that's what you're referring to." His fingers curled around hers.

"Prince Zuko-"

Something twitched in his eyes, and he pulled her close to him. "Do you want to dance with me?"

Her other hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he swept them into the final dance. Her thumb fingered the gold trim on his shirt as they spun down the edge of the dance floor. She kept her gaze politely over his shoulder, just high enough to watch his back while avoiding the livid gazes of less tactful young Fae.

"I've learned I have to think very far ahead, now."

She just tilted an eyebrow at him.

"And alliances are important."

"As are heirs."

"I'm not asking you to marry me. That's not how mortals work. Just to get coffee, you know?"

"Coffee?"

"You know; we clearly have something - I pulled you into a dream after all. But that's not what a relationship can be built on, and definitely not one ruling a kingdom. I just want to get to know you."

"And to prove the point you basically proposed using court etiquette?"

"May have been a tad hasty, but yes, I guess so."

"Well then, I shall gladly get coffee with you. But if your uncle or my dad makes us wed to silence rumors and scandal, it's your fault."

He huffed with laughter. "If they do, then we'll have to really do something to merit rumor and scandal."

"Besides turn up and claim the throne after a whole life away?"

With a smirk, he took them around a tight corner in the dance. "A shotgun wedding would allow me to turn that tongue from sarcasm to much more delightful purposes." Before she could berate him, he added, "I cook rather well. Nothing is more enjoyable than a home-cooked meal."

"You put on the court mask when you flirt, you know. You ought to take it all off for me some time."

Light smiles teased their lips as they danced on, eyes meeting more often than not, stretched between two places and half-decided already to build themselves a third.


End file.
